Gordon Morton McGregor (January 18, 1873 – March 11, 1922
) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
businessman who founded the
Ford Motor Company of Canada
Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited ( French: ''Ford du Canada Limitée'') was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automobiles in Canada and the British Empire. It was originally known as the Walkerville ...
in 1904.
Background
His father was
William McGregor, president of the
Walkerville Wagon Company Limited in
Walkerville, Ontario
Walkerville, Ontario, is a former town in Canada, that is today a heritage precinct of Windsor, Ontario. The town was founded by Hiram Walker in 1890, owner and producer of Canadian Club Whisky. Walker planned it as a 'model town’, (originally ...
– now part of
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
, Ontario. Gordon McGregor took over the management of the company in 1901, and on the death of his father in 1903, he became president of the company.
At a meeting with his brothers, Walter and Donald, in January 1904, Gordon McGregor said:
Agreement with Henry Ford
Meetings with
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
resulted in McGregor obtaining a personal agreement that allowed him to form and finance a company to manufacture and sell Ford products in Canada.
Additionally, he obtained the right to sell Ford products in the then-existing
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, exclusive of the British Isles. This farsightedness on the part of McGregor resulted in Ford of Canada having wholly owned subsidiaries in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
Ford of Canada
Production of Ford automobiles in Canada started in the Wagon Works on October 10, 1904. The 1904 Ford Model C was the first car built at the plant.
In addition to building the business, he actively developed people. A young man,
Wallace R. Campbell, whom he hired as bookkeeper, showed promise and was developed to become McGregor's assistant. When McGregor died, Campbell took over and ran Ford of Canada.
Personal life
On November 2, 1898, he married Harriett Dodds. They had five children – two sons, Gordon and William, and three daughters, Harriett, Elizabeth and Nancy.
Death
McGregor died at
Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal on March 11, 1922. The cause of death was reported as intestinal trouble arising from an old injury suffered in a railway accident; the family believed it was cancer; pathological study points to a rare blood-vessel disorder.
Legacy
McGregor saw the company he founded expand from producing 117 cars in its first fiscal year, to 51,341 in 1922. This resulted in almost seven out of 10 cars sold in Canada being built by Ford of Canada. He saw his company become the first automobile manufacturer in Canada to build the complete automobile from raw material to the finished product.
There was a Gordon McGregor Public Elementary School in Windsor, Ontario.
Students bid farewell to Gordon McGregor, vow to take school spirit with them
''Windsor Star''.
References
External links
Ford Motor Company - Birth of Ford Canada
Ford and McGregor
Ford Canada: A Heritage as Rich as the Land Itself
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Gordon Morton
1873 births
1922 deaths
People from Windsor, Ontario